mHealth is taking off everywhere. An office of the National Institutes for Health (NIH) is jumping in too, seeking proposals for public-private partnerships that would focus on mHealth.
The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), which tries to identify the key role that behavioral and social factors play in illness, seeks organizations that have the right tools to manage and/or participate in an mHealth public-private partnership (PPP) to "facilitate research and evidence collection to enable the appropriate use of wireless devices to improve health in both the domestic and global environment,” according to Eric Wicklund.
According to a recent pwc.com survey, most patients believe mHealth will improve their healthcare, and most doctors think widespread adoption in their countries is inevitable in the near future.
Experts, while convinced it will be an important part of care provision, expect adoption to take time.
The OBSSR is specifically looking for organizations interested in collaborating with government agencies or institutions; academia, NGOs and philanthropic groups; and the public.
The ideal applicant is an entity that would "be able to convene stakeholders, establish and implement a governance structure, raise funds in support of the mHealth PPP’s mission, provide project management, and to manage various operations of the mHealth PPP, such as contracts and grant making.”
The OBSSR is also reaching out for a partner that could explore potential partnership or collaboration with other organizations that could advance the mission of the mHealth PPP.
"With this RFI, OBSSR expresses the interest in entering into an mHealth PPP to address a profound public need to better utilize mobile technologies to improve health research, healthcare and health prevention efforts," the RFI stated.
In the pwc survey, respondents felt mHealth would most likely affect their lives in how they seek medical information and how they would measure and keep track of their overall health.
Edited by
Braden Becker
